It seems like every year we keep breaking this record. The Embassy rooms sold out in only 150 seconds this year, faster than the Olympic 4×400 Relay. If you still need a room for the show and didn’t get one at the Embassy, there are plenty of options on our hotels page with availability.

Last year the hotel sold out in under 15 minutes. This year should be on different. If you want to stay at the onsite hotel, be ready at 9AM CST Friday August 30. Click the image, or go here to reserve your room.

This year’s show had 4 different tournaments going on with 3 divisions of the main Wizards tournament. The Wizards tournament sells out in 10 minutes every year when ticket sales goes live and has the fiercest competition at our show. Here are the winners of all of the tournaments.

Wizards Champions

For the Wizards ‘A’ Division, 4th place went to Marc Jackson, 3rd place was Sanjay Shaw, 2nd Place Bowen Kerins, and our GRAND CHAMPION was Eric Stone. Congratulations Eric!

Wizards ‘B’ Division winners were: 4th place – Michael Hew, 3rd place – Geoff Davis, 2nd place – Clark McCoy, and 1st place – Jon Stewart.

Wizards Novice Division winners were: 4th place – Shawn Quinn, 3rd place – Sven Johnson, 2nd place – Kelly Moncla, and 1st place – Bryce Bush

Classics Winners

For the Classics tournament, 4th place went to Geoff Davis, 3rd place was Eric Stone, 2nd place was Mark Meserve, and 1st place was Jack Revnew

Texas Takedown Women’s Champions

For the Women’s “Texas Takedown Championship” tournament, the winners were: 4th place – Tracy Abrahams, 3rd place – Louise Wagensonner, 2nd place – Lexi Whittemore, and 1st place – Danielle Peck

Kids Bump ‘n Win Champions

For the Kids Bump ‘n Win tournament, the winners were: 4th place – Orazio Strealy, 3rd place – Carter Fell, 2nd place – Miles Bradley, and 1st place – Liam Bradley

Congratulations to all of our winners!

Our old original style Gildan Ultra square, “true to size”, shirts in small to 5XL.. get ’em until April 5th. We also added our Elephant shirts in Jade, and Pastels, there’s a few dozen coins, posters and hats too. And don’t forget the new fatigued traditional TPF “Established in 2002” blue logo on purple. https://bit.ly/3Dxdexo

We are loaded up-“finally”

Wow! So many new firsts this year and a ton of people to thank. We decided to use as much of the additional 20,000 sq ft of lobby space as we could, made the aisles wider in a few areas around where we anticipated high-volume games and you delivered almost 500 games obliterating the prior TPF record. We also welcomed 10 new exhibitor booths and several returned that hadn’t been in a few years. It was awesome to have Rob Anthony repairing boards for us again as well.

We added a few more friendly staff faces this year and plan for a few more in 2025 as we were very light in our back door check-in area and missed getting the new exhibitor/collector entrance set up (promise we will fix that). We greatly appreciate Tony, Heath, and “The Big Guy”-Trey, who still did an amazing job getting all those additional games to their right home. We also introduced our new check-in verification process. This process helped ensure that games brought to the show were working and safe for you to play. Big Texas thank you to Pinball ERS Team – Kevin Moore, Jessica Richardson, Mike, Jenny, Sandra, Pat, Frank, Harrison, Billy, Ashley, Cayman, Lara, Tim, Pat Danis, and Cary Hardy for verifying all of the machines brought to our festival.  Finally, thanks to Nic Schell, for tweaking a few EMs when they needed it (especially Hang Glider…maybe organizers should not bring games, lost count on the number of years we tell ourselves that)!

We increased the value of our “Best in Show” awards this year including the runner-up categories. This is the first time that we know that a Home Brew game, Friday the 13th, has won the Grand Champion award. A big thank you to Imoto and Aaron Davis (FASTpinball) for coordinating with the group of makers to get almost a dozen home brew games on the floor this year, and thank you to those creative guys for sometimes what is years of effort. Thank you to Rich Wiski, Bill Morrison, Michael Lube, Scott Martin, and guest judge Gary Stuart for a hard-fought judging effort with all those games on the floor and we look forward to Keith Holbrook’s return next year. Thank you, Keith for the many playfield restorations seen across the show, as well as the contributions of Ken Head, Kevin Moore, Jessica Richardson, and Bob Herbison in getting show games ready for folks. 

This year saw the largest number of seminars we’ve ever had, and we hope that you got to enjoy some of the focus on “How To:” / “Making” that we are re-introducing to the show. Thank you to Pam Heffern, Howard and Richard Barnett, and Imoto for all the pre-planning that goes into producing our seminars. Visionality does a fantastic job of securing the high-end equipment and staffing to ensure that you have an excellent audio and visual experience at the seminars. 

In addition to our main tournaments, which pretty much sell out way before the show opens, so we added two additional pick-up tournaments with both Hanger Pinball and NTXPinball that were well received. We kicked this off with a seminar by Louis Marx on how to get involved with Tournaments. Hopefully, you were able to enjoy some friendly competition that benefited several charities.

Tournament directors Dick Curtis, Elizabeth Dronet, Kevin Stone, and Ken Kemp planned for months before the show and rolled with the punches too ….and many thanks to everyone that contributed one of the 25 Tournament machines. 

Another first was the addition of our TPF Concierge, Elaine, to field all of your questions and be point for our volunteer coordination.

We can’t forget Team TPF, our staff, and volunteers that keep all the parts of TPF moving whilst exuding that Texas Friendly that our show is known for. Jaelanne, thank you for your efforts on food truck coordination this year and for getting better coverage and a few more options. Kris Klinge, thank you so much for all the responsibility you take on each year, your knowledge of the show and taking the lead during shut down to clean up the registration area was a big help.

In addition to seminars, Pam Heffern pitched in wherever she was needed in our retail area, and her husband Scott assisted on AV setup that had an impact where the show wouldn’t have happened without it, thank you!  Marc Davis, Lisa Miller, Leslie Sinclair, and Ron Reynolds, thanks for taking on all the extra shifts and being so helpful and positive. Past show organizer Grieg Riddle and his wife Joanne took on several gift shop shifts as well. Newcomers Darryl Gamboa and David Vandiver took lead positions in the gift shop area and for their first time did an amazing job. Well done all!

Britney Parker, what a pleasure to work with you and we appreciate your help when things went into extra innings on Saturday night. Shelley Nunnelee and Carey Fishman saw the lines we had and jumped in to help even when they weren’t on the schedule. Thank you so much for pitching in and giving up some of your play time to help out the show.

Keith, Eric, Rusty, and the Houston guys/gals, thanks for coming, adding to the “party” atmosphere, and not tearing the place down-

😉

Alphagraphics: Katie and Mary are awesome, fantastic response to everything we threw at them before and during our show.

Exhibitors, thanks for dragging all your stuff, some from way across the country, being available for early ride time, and upping the quality of your booths, so much good “making” this year!

Manufacturers, thanks for the cartwheels it took to get 10 new and/or never-before-seen games on the floor again this year. Collectors that work on games all year, huff them up to the show, even with rain this year, and try their best to keep them running through the whole show, we really appreciate all your efforts.

Thank you to all of those who participated in our daily survey contest that helps keep TPF a first-class show!

If you missed out on TPF merchandise, be sure to check out the TPF store between now and April 5^th. We added posters and a few hats we have while they last, and we are introducing Gildan Ultra shirts in black with the Captain Fantastic art. 

See you next year, March 21st – 23^rd 2025.

Paul & Robert

Congratulations to Christine Busick for having the winning ticket for the Elton John pinball raffle machine! She says her daughter is a huge Elton John fan and this is their first pinball machine. Be careful, they have a way of multiplying.

Stephen Silver, Creative Director on The Princess Bride for Multimorphic, is coming back to TPF this year!If you had your heart set on rubbing elbows with a D-list Pinball celebrity, time to lower your expectations, because those guys were booked, and we got Stephen instead!  Stephen has been in the pinball hobby since 2010, when he came in 4th in a 4 person pinball tournament, finishing right behind a 7 year old who, frankly, could have shown a little more sportsmanship and a little less victory dancing.  While Stephen did not, in fact, learn how to Dougie that day, he did rediscover the fascinating, physical, mechanical world under glass that is pinball, and he couldn’t get enough!  

Fast forward 2 years and Stephen was visiting his first TPF, where he laid eyes on the very first P3 prototype. It was love at first flip, and he knew this was going to be something special.  After offering his video production, animation and design skills to Multimorphic Founder Gerry Stellenberg, he soon began working with the company in all manner of promotions and development, which eventually led to him being named Creative Director on the Company’s 4th full game release, Heist.  Since then, Stephen has been Co-Creative Director on Weird Al’s Museum of Natural Hilarity as well as Creative Director on their most recent release, The Princess Bride.  

“I feel incredibly fortunate to have worked on 3 really special games, 2 of which are absolutely dream themes for me, with some of the smartest people I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing.  With the P3 platform, that team has the tools to do some really incredible, fun, new experiences in pinball, and I can’t wait for people to get their hands on The Princess Bride!”  

Come hang out with Stephen at the Multimorphic booth, but he advises he hasn’t gotten any better at actual pinball or dancing in the last 14 years, so please keep any challenge expectations tempered.

John is well known in the industry for popular titles such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Munsters, Aerosmith, Metallica, TRON, Iron Man, X-Men, Tales from the Crypt, Guardians of the Galaxy, and RUSH!

John will be visiting with TPF guests over the weekend and will be happy to sign that translite or flyer while he’s there.

“Cary is a pinball content creator on Youtube. His channel covers a variety of topics in the hobby. His entertaining videos include topics such as: Discussing current events, performing restorations, comedic skits, educational “How To’s”, product installs, reviews, and more. 

Cary will be at TPF all weekend be sure to check out his Seminar Saturday night with a Looney Spooky Bug and crew”.

After indulging in the creation of a few custom pinball machines purely for enjoyment, Josh made a pivotal career shift into the realm of pinball game development. His journey took flight with his inaugural visit to TPF, for the unveiling of Houdini, marking the beginning of his involvement in game development, including titles such as Oktoberfest, Hot Wheels and Galactic Tank Force.

He eagerly anticipates his return to TPF, this time to showcase his latest game: Multimorphic’s The Princess Bride. “The Princess Bride holds a special place in my heart as one of my all-time favorite movies. When presented with the opportunity to merge the full assets with the remarkable features of the P3 platform, I couldn’t resist. I firmly believe that this will establish a new standard for the integration of a beloved movie license into a pinball machine.”

In his 10 years at Stern Pinball, Tanio Klyce has worked on all aspects of pinball software, including leading the game development of Foo Fighters and Deadpool, system software for SPIKE 1, SPIKE 2, and Insider Connected, and software support on Star Trek, Mustang, The Walking Dead, KISS, Ghostbusters, Star Wars and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. His creative drive often finds him contributing content to the games as a script writer, sound designer, and general troubleshooter.

“This will be my first time at TPF. I hear it’s epic. Can’t wait!”

A graduate of the Columbus College of Art & Design, Michael has been working professionally as an illustrator for close to 20 years running his own freelance illustration company: Sunburn Designs. Michael is also the artist behind Stern’s RUSH pinball machine.

This will be his 2^nd trip to the Texas Pinball Festival!

Michael will be at TPF all weekend and you’ll likely find him hanging out with John Borg.

Bill Grupp is a software engineer who has worked in the coin-op industry since 1992. During his tenure at Williams/Bally, he contributed to titles such as Demolition Man, Corvette, Dirty Harry, and Phantom Haus. He served as the lead programmer for Congo. Currently, he holds the position of Senior Software Engineer at Jersey Jack Pinball, where he has been involved in the development of Willy Wonka, Guns N Roses, Toy Story 4, and The Godfather. Additionally, he is the lead programmer for Elton John pinball.

“I’m Most looking forward to Hutchins BBQ and hearing feedback about Elton John.”

Ever wonder how this show has become one of if not the BEST pinball show in the world? It takes collectors who bring their machines, exhibitors who sell their products, and guests who come to enjoy our hobby. It is also a lot of work. In order to make sure the show is a fantastic time for everyone, we have a team of staff and volunteers that give up their game playing time to help out in the registration area, the gift shop, our back door load-in and load-out, and the seminar room. We also have people who help out with other tasks that just need to get done.

Interested in being a part of the volunteer team? We have sign-ups for each location we need help in. Just choose a sign-up link and grab a slot. For every 2 hours of work you perform, you get a $15 credit towards food and merchandise. Want this years challenge coin? That is 2 hours of work. How about the show T-Shirt? Only 4 hours of work. If you are hungry, we will give you a voucher for $15 worth of food that can be used at the food trucks or the in-house food that the convention center sells.

The TPF is YOUR show, give some time to help it continue to be the BEST show (our opinion of course)! Donate your time today.

General Help:

Registration Booth

Gift Shop

Back Door Load-In / Load-out

Tournaments

Meet top 200 player in the world and new Stern game designer. 

“Elizabeth recently joined Stern in June 2023 as a game software developer. She has contributed to the ruleset and code for Jaws. 

That’s it. Oh! I was on the Pinball Profile podcast, that was cool too.
Also, contrary to my profile picture, I don’t know card tricks. But I love playing Euchre with my family, so that’s cool.
Other than that, I’m just your (above) average pinball tournament player from Kentucky.

At Stern Pinball, Rick has led the software development of all of Keith Elwin’s cornerstone pinball machines, including Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast, Jurassic Park, Avengers Infinity Quest, Godzilla and Jaws.

Rick Naegele has his roots at Midway Games, where he worked with George Gomez and contributed to iconic titles such as NBA Ballers and Mortal Kombat. Rick transitioned to Electronic Arts in 2005, where he worked on projects like Fight Night Round 3 and Def Jam: Icon, focusing on XBOX and PlayStation console games. In 2010, he joined WMS Gaming working on slot machines before assuming the role of Lead Software Engineer at Stern Pinball in 2017.

“The biggest thing I’m looking forward to is seeing how the pinball community enjoys playing our latest cornerstone, JAWS. After over a year of development on the software for this title it’s always great to see how people are enjoying the game.

See you at the show!”

Today is the last day you can order your tickets and get the collectable badge when you chose to bring a game or purchase a weekend pass. It is also the last day that you can order merchandise to be picked up at the show or to be mailed to you prior to show time. If you order any merchandise after Feb. 15th it must included shipping and may not ship until May 1st. You may still purchase tickets and sign up to bring a game until March 10th. And as we’ve done in prior years will still be able to add your game to the festival at the show depending on space, just check at the loading dock check-in on the west of the building after noon on Thursday the 14th until the show opens at 4pm on Friday March 15th. 

Dwight is primarily known for slinging code with great rule sets. His history in pinball started in 1990, at Williams, followed by Bally, and Stern Pinball, where he currently works. Games include Stern’s Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Ghostbusters, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Terminator 2, and WHO Dunnit.  “I am really looking forward to TPF. I love seeing all the people I don’t get to see very often. Also, it is a great time for me to see all the games that STERN doesn’t make.“

Everyone’s favorite pinball engineer and tech is coming back to Texas. Butch has worked in pinball for some time and has been involved in the making of several games including Wizard of Oz, Hobbit, Pirates of the Caribbean, Cactus Canyon Remake, Pulp Fiction and many others.  Butch is working with Chicago Gaming Company and will be hanging out in the CGC booth all weekend – and doing a presentation on his Pulp Fiction manual on Saturday morning.  He looks forward to seeing all his friends – and making new ones – at Texas every year!

All the cool cats can go Bananas for the sounds of the Go-GoRillas, Saturday night on the Main Seminar stage, 11pm-12am

Jack Danger, the latest addition to Stern Pinball’s design team, is renowned for his groundbreaking contributions to the pinball industry, particularly in the realms of media and exposure.

His passion and expertise led to his role as a Stern Brand Ambassador, where he played a pivotal role in the creation of the “Pinball” category on Twitch. His dynamic career reflects a fusion of artistic prowess, ingenuity, and a profound impact on pinball’s online presence.

Jack’s design journey began with Stern’s Jurassic Park Home Edition, marking the inception of a promising pinball design career. Recently, along with the talented team over at Stern, they unveiled Foo Fighters, Jack’s first cornerstone game.

Multimorphic is coming back to TPF to show off their ever-growing library of P3 games!  They showed off their first P3 prototype at TPF 2012, started shipping machines in 2017, and now have 20 different games available for the P3.  They have brought something new and exciting every year.  Hopefully that trend continues!

Multimorphic founder and president, Gerry Stellenberg, will be presenting a seminar on Saturday at 3pm CT, and many of the developers will be hanging out in the booth all weekend to meet everybody and talk about the games.  Be sure to check out their setup; it’s always cool to see and play all of their games!

Pick up dinner and sit a spell while you jam to sounds of Scoma Jazz, Friday evening on the Lobby stage.

Mike is an Associate Game Developer at Stern Pinball. He has designed rules for James Bond 007 and Stranger Things, and aided in rule design on a variety of other Stern games such as Batman, Kiss, The Mandalorian, Guardians of the Galaxy, Deadpool, The Beatles, and many more. Mike also created all the Expression Lights lightshows in Foo Fighters, Rush, and Led Zeppelin. Mike also has an impressive resume with some of your favorite arcade games including Mortal Kombat.

Need help getting a game to or from the show? Team Worldwide is the official Transportation provider for the 2024 Texas Pinball Festival. Team Worldwide has a long history of assisting with the transportation of Pinball machines and gaming components. Understanding the white glove care and packing needed for a successful delivery has made them our “go-to” transportation provider year-after-year. As an International Freight Forwarder, they can assist Exhibitors and Attendees with shipments to or from this year’s show. At the show, they will be onsite 9-5 daily to quote and arrange shipments for attendees. Services provided by Team Worldwide include; International and Domestic shipments, white glove pickup and delivery services, residential, inside, unpack, debris removal and put in place services.. please contact Courtney or Cassidy for a quote.

Courtney Upton

courtney.upton@teamww.com

817-524-8506

Cassidy Collins

cassidy.collins@teamww.com

Cell: 214-542-2464

When the original organizers started TPF it began as us sharing our games with the community in an effort to “save pinball”. That sharing continues as collectors restore and share games each TPF, some you might just never see in the wild.

Being a collector and bringing a game to TPF has does have its privileges.

1. You get a collector level badge for each game that you bring to the show
2. You are eligible for judging in the machine awards– The amount has been increased in every category this year including runner up levels.
3. You get into the exclusive “themed” after party late Saturday night.
4. You receive a TPF exclusive gift.
5. You might win some additional collector swag.

So please register your games as soon as possible to make sure you get in while we still have space for you. (i.e., there are 272 games we know about already that aren’t in the games list). It also helps us get the plan to fire Marshall for approval in time and gives us time to solve the enormous game of Tetris that is the success of our show layout.

We also understand that things happen between now and show time so you might need to change titles, That’s ok, our check in software can handle changes at the door.

Please be aware that we may limit some titles, Nothing personal, but 58 Pac-Man cocktails might be fun for a competition, but we’re pretty sure it isn’t going to fit. However, if Kevin Moore wants to find a restore a few more Baby Pac-Man’s well, maybe we make room in the lobby because that would just be pretty cool.

If you are planning on bringing something to the Saturday morning Swap meet let us know by sending an email to info@texaspinball.com with SWAP Meet space request in the subject line.

FAN FAVORITE AWARDS – Back when we started the show not only did the organizers run around in the very early Sunday am hours finalizing judging on “best of show” games, we also counted lots of paper ballots on fan favorites. As we grew, we turned over the best of show to a group of professional judges that still spend almost all weekend judging the collector games and our fan awards faded into various global events covered by social media channels. With last year’s show survey’s, we brought back a couple of fan favorite categories for TPF. The categories include:

• Most Creative Booth

• Favorite New Game

• Best Mods

• Best Seminar

Special thanks to our presenters: 

Rusty, Shelly and Tobi Nunnelee 

Crystal Waddy, Britney Parker and Abby Evans

Stephen & Leslie Brown

Lisa and Sophia with visitFrisco.com

If you haven’t seen the awards it’s a quick 3 min on YouTube here

In 2016, Christopher Franchi arrived on the pinball scene with the illustrious Ka-Pow/Stern produced Batman ’66 games. His colorful, exciting designs and realism quickly earned him a spot in the hearts of pinball fans worldwide. His follow-ups; Guardians of the Galaxy, The Munsters, The Beatles. Godfather, Galactic Tank Force and his latest, Jersey Jack’s Elton John are also fan favorites, with The Munsters earning him his first TWIPY for best art.

Franchi is grabbing the mic and saddling up with his podcast partners Christian Line (Dr. Pin) and Jeff Parsons this January for a special Super Awesome Pinball Show Year in Review with all the industry biggies. He has been working on at least 5 new titles, and some of these things you might see at TPF 2024. Christopher will be next to Spooky Pinball and Coin Taker all weekend, signing his art and visiting with guests and fans.

Famed pinball designer and good friend Mark Ritchie is coming back to Texas with his latest title! Mark truly is a fan favorite.

He has designed some the most loved and collectible pinball machines in the hobby, including Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure, Fish Tales, Diner, Big Guns, Firepower II, Police Force, Sorcerer and Kingpin just to name a few. And last year’s hit, Pulp Fiction with its retro feel and awesome topper, was well received. We have it on good authority that production is fired up and expect plenty to play on the floor this year!

Mark will be visiting with TPF guests and signing autographs so bring your favorite Mark Ritchie design translite for a signature!

Searching for the perfect gift for that pinball fan of yours? Look no further! Visit the store and purchase a ticket to the 2024 Texas Pinball Festival. Then, print out this image and put it under the tree or in a stocking. Note that the printed image is not the actual ticket to the show, rather tickets get picked up at the registration desk at the festival. While you’re at it, pick up a shirt for Valentine’s Day! Mark off your shopping list as done, and sit back and enjoy the holidays.

On the 20th Anniversary of the TPF, the Texas Pinball Festival will be giving away a NEW, Elton John pinball, Platinum Edition, from Jersey Jack Pinball. Did we know that our 2024 theme would match this game so perfectly? No, but we are sure glad it did. This machine is valued at $12,000!

One lucky winner will take home this brand new game. Raffle tickets are available for sale only at the show, and you must be present on Sunday during the awards presentation to win.

We will be donating the proceeds of the TPF Raffle to the National Videogame Museum. Locals know and love this venue. If you don’t, we encourage you to visit NVM, just a short ride from the show, during TPF weekend.

Click here to read more about the Texas Pinball Raffle, the National Videogame Museum, and see the gallery of winners.

Yes, he was our one and only VIP at that first 2002 festival and has been a part of every show since then. It almost never happened! 

Steve originally gave a hard NO to Craig when he first approached him. That’s when Jennifer Morrison stepped in after finding out that Steve had Daughter duty that weekend while, his wife, Diana was in NYC. The solution was Shopping and Horseback riding with Jennifer for the weekend and the rest is history. 

Play any Steve Ritchie game and you will understand why he’s the Master of Flow!

What I remember about meeting Steve the first time is that he’s just a regular guy that loves designing pinball machines and most importantly he’s humbled by a group of folks that treat him like a “Rock Star”.

Steve will return to TPF2024 to visit with guests and fans. Now a member of Jersey Jack Pinball, they just released Elton John and there will be some to play in the JJP booth.

Some of Steve’s hits include: Elton John, Black Knight: Sword of Rage, Black Knight2000, Black Knight, Firepower, Terminator 2, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Terminator 3, Elvis, Spider-Man, AC/DC, Star Trek, Game of Thrones and the ever popular High Speed 2/the Getaway.

Steve absolutely wants to see you, play some pinball, and sign your Steve Ritchie pinball memorabilia. 

The TPF is excited to continue to host the most awesome awards in pinball.   Voting begins Dec 18th. Make sure you vote the Texas Pinball Festival as “Your favorite pinball show”!

Something NEW! – “Early Ride Time” pass – add this $50 option to your weekend pass for entry at noon on Friday.  You get an additional 4 hours of preview access to the main show floor.  Several or our exhibitors will have games open for play at that time.  This is a “behind the scenes time” during set up, so please visit another exhibitor if a game is off or the exhibitor ask you to hold off as they are still setting up.   We will post at the main entry which Exhibitors are open for ERT.   This offer is limited to the first 100 Fans with a weekend pass that purchase this ERT wristband.

Wow, that was as fast as we have ever seen. Tournaments were selling out in record time, so fast that it caused a glitch in the system. Just know that if you got an email saying you have a ticket, you do. The player list is incomplete, but we will have it fixed sometime in the next few days to show all the people who bought in.

Also, if you bought a Wizards tournament ticket AND a weekend pass, you may need to contact us for a refund. The Wizards ticket includes a weekend pass so if you meant for that pass to be for you, we will return those funds. On a similar note, if you didn’t buy a Wizards tournament ticket, but DID buy a Classics or Womens tournament ticket, you will need a weekend pass to be able to play in those tournaments.

If you were not lucky enough to get a Wizards tournament ticket before it sold out (11 minutes), the wait list marker is not available for sale at the store. If tickets get returned due to someone not being able to make it to the show, we will go in order of the waitlist and offer those tickets until someone grabs them up. Get in line early for a chance at a ticket.

TPF2024 tournament pre-registration will go on sale Saturday, September 30th, 2023. The schedule for ticket sales is as follows:

4:00pm CDT – TPF Wizards Tournament Entry sales begin 
4:30pm CDT – TPF Women’s Tournament Entry sales begin
5:00pm CDT – TPF Classics Tournament Entry sales begin
5:00pm CDT – Tournament Waitlists open (as applicable)

READ THIS: 

• A Wizards Tournament ticket INCLUDES a TPF2024 weekend pass. You may only buy one tournament entry at a time. 
• You cannot buy multiple entries of the same type in a single transaction. 
• Women’s and Classics Tournament tickets DO NOT INCLUDE a TPF2024 weekend pass. All tournament players are required to have a TPF2024 weekend pass (or day pass for each day playing). If you don’t get a Wizards entry that includes a pass, be sure to get your Weekend Pass or register as an Exhibitor.
• If you buy a Wizard’s Tournament ticket and also have a weekend pass by another means (ie: you are an Collector or Exhibitor), bring a friend so they can watch you dominate! 

Instructions for a Smooth Transaction:

1. Select the desired tournament entry item from the TPF store.
2. Enter the required fields at a minimum:
   – First Name
   – Last Name
   – State (drop down selection)
   – Country (drop down selection)
   – Manually update the Quantity to “1” even if it shows “1” by default
3. Click Add to Bag.
4. Copy/paste any applicable coupon code you might have into the coupon code field and click Apply.
5. Enter your email address.
6. Click “I agree with Terms and Conditions”.
7. Click Checkout.
8. Follow prompts to make payment.

PRO TIPS: 

• Once you place your tournament entry in your shopping cart, IMMEDIATELY check out and finish your payment. A tournament entry in your shopping cart is not yours until you successfully make the payment. We highly recommend not trying to add other items to your shopping cart if you are purchasing a Wizards or Women’s tournament ticket.
• For best performance, the preferred browser for our store is Chrome.
• Don’t forget to manually update the quantity field to 1 before clicking “Add to Bag.” Yes, it may already default to 1, but you must update it anyway. It’s a bug… we’ve reported it, but we can’t be sure they’ll fix it in time… so we’re telling you (everybody) now. It’s an issue that affects everyone equally, and we’re doing our utmost to make sure everyone is aware of it and knows how to handle it.

Take a minute and review the TPF Tournament Pages: https://texaspinball.com/tpf/tournaments/

TPF Fans, 2024 discounted admission tickets are now on-sale. Our new 2024 merchandise is also available at the TPF store in a wider variety of styles and color options for on-line and pre-show purchase.

Tournament Registration is being finalized and goes on sale September 30th.  More Details will be out soon.

We are extending the availability our Re-Threads shirts so that you can combine your order with our new 2024 design.  Due to vendor production issues, a few of the original styles and sizes we offered are no longer available and you will receive a refund. If you already ordered and wish to purchase additional 2024 merchandise,  just email us for a one-time coupon code at info AT texaspinball.com – indicate “Shipping Discount” in the subject and we will wave the shipping cost on your second order.

TPF Fans, preparations have been made for a faster than normal race start, so don’t get stuck in the pits.   Last year’s race time to beat is 52 min.    If you are a bit slower off the starting line, there are other strategies and options to secure a place to stay.  Many Hotels are open already except for Embassy (check out our hotel page).   Secret race hint….Hyatt House and Hilton Garden Inn are approximately the same number of steps to the Exhibit Hall entrance.

Just click image at 9.am. Central time Aug 15th, 2023

TPF Guys and Gals – Introducing Re-Threads, our new vintage merch catalog.  Go back in time… well maybe not that far back.  Visit the Texas Pinball Festival website store for “Brilliant True to Life Color” for 2 of our popular prior show designs: Kosmic Khaos 2018, and 3D 2023.  These shirts also offer a new softer material in most styles and come in a variety of colors.  There are even styles with pockets, tie-dyed, bowling, and several women’s cuts.  Ever wanted a TPF shirt in safety green?  We’ve got you covered!  You’ll have an option of shipping them direct to you or picking them up at the 2024 show.  We may also do a pop-up in the Frisco area in October where you can pick-up show orders early.

Visit the Store for details.

WOW! THAT WAS AMAZING!

Another TPF has come and gone. As usual, we needed a few days (ahem… weeks) to recover.

And now it’s time to say THANK YOU!

TPF2023 was the BEST one yet! There is absolutely no way that we could have pulled this off without the support of an incredible pinball community that reaches far and wide. We had Exhibitors bring games from all over the United States and Vendors that came and shipped games from all over the world!

Putting on THE best pinball show though… that’s impossible without you and the games you bring to share with us all weekend. Every year, we’re amazed at the quantity and quality of machines that you bring to the show. And we’re proud you take ownership in the Texas Pinball Festival.

This year, sincere thanks go to our dedicated and passionate volunteers: Pam Heffern, Tony Macevicius, Heath Stidham, Robert Harris, Jaelanne and Trey Gilliam, Kris Klinge, Gina Curbo, Michael and Melinda Braly, Kristin and Clark Nethers, Greg and Julie Spivey, Lauren VanderVeen, Blake Dumesnil, Colin MacAlpine, Ken Kemp, Liz Dronet and Dick Curtis, and Richard and Howard Barnett. And we can’t forget our Best in Show Judges Bill Morrison, Scott Martin, Rich Wiski, and Keith Holbrook. You all spent more hours than we can count making sure things were handled… before, during and after the show. There were another 40+ volunteers that helped us fill in the gaps. We even had people just step in and lend a hand where they saw a need. Thank you all!

There are too many to list here, but we wanted to recognize all of our special guests and speakers, including industry designers, artists and online and media personalities. We were pleased to have pinball manufacturers and executives bring their newest games out to show off. 7 new titles debuted at TPF2023!

As much effort as we put into making the Texas Pinball Festival a great show, we recognize the time and effort each of you puts forth. YOU make TPF the best pinball show in the country! It’s your show!

THANK YOU FOR MAKING TPF2023 INCREDIBLE!

And now we say Congratulations! to all of our winners… and there were a lot of them, even if we can’t list them all here.

To start with, Morgan Stickney (center) took home the Stern “The Simpson’s Pinball Party” pinball machine in our charity raffle benefitting the National Videogame Museum and Kidd’s Kids. 

This brand new 20-year-old time capsule was generously donated by Ross and Lisa Viguet (left). You can see the unboxing here hosted by Cary Hardy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5ZRAFSaXnw

Tournaments!

Karl DeAngelo took home the top prize in the Texas Wizards Tournament. Escher Lefkoff dominated in the Classics Tournament. Meghan Shattuck was the winner of the Women’s Tournament. Miles Bradley took the Number 1 spot in the Kids’ Bump ‘n’ Win.

Exhibitor James Kemp earned the Grand Champion plaque in the Best In Show competition for his incredible Fish Tales.

During Exhibitor check in, over 400 pinball machines and classic arcades came through the doors. We awarded over $20,000 in tournament money and trophies and over $1,500 in the Best In Show Award money. All in all, more than 4,600 people attended the 2023 Texas Pinball Festival.

For the best TPF2023 show coverage, head over to Pinball News to check out Martin Ayub’s wrap up. Jonathan Joosten at Pinball Magazine also wrote up a great article.

If you didn’t see the TWIPY Awards Show LIVE… and you haven’t seen it since, you can check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-2BXTXLXIY

A lot of effort went into this production… William Oetting from This Week in Pinball, Imoto, Todd Tuckey, and their committee did an amazing job.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE 2022 TWIPY AWARD WINNERS!

Finally… TPF Organizers Ed and Kim VanderVeen are announcing their retirement as TPF show runners.

Founding organizer Paul McKinney will continue to carry the TPF torch along with Robert Harris. Ed and Kim will be at TPF2024, but they will be playing pinball, enjoying the show, and visiting with all of you! 

Mark your calendars now for TPF2024!
March 15-17, 2024

Stern Pinball’s newest game designer, Jack Danger, is heralded for his many innovations in the Pinball industry regarding media and exposure over the years. Starting his design career with Stern’s Jurassic Park Home Edition, Stern Pinball just released Jack’s second machine: Foo Fighters!

Jack started his career as an animator and worked on commercials, music videos and feature films for nearly 20 years prior to launching his own design studio. When he got into pinball, he launched the “Dead Flip” streaming channel, where he livestreamed pinball, became a Stern Brand Ambassador and was the driving force for the “Pinball” category being added on Twitch.

ColorDMD Pinball Displays is again making a special offer for TPF2023 pinball Exhibitors: $50 off and free delivery on a new ColorDMD display picked up at the show and installed in your game OR $50 credit toward your next ColorDMD display for any game at the show that already has a ColorDMD in it!

Email Randy@colordmd.com to make arrangements so he knows how many displays to bring! How awesome is that? 

Be sure to check out their lineup of Color DMD titles on their website!

Exclusive offer for TPF2023 attendees! 50% off and a free ride to the National Videogame Museum

Show your TPF wristband at the door March 24-26 to gain entry to the NVM for just $6! That’s 50% off the regular $12 price! They are even offering a FREE shuttle ride on Saturday! AND, since this year’s pinball raffle benefits the NVM, make sure you get your raffle tickets before heading to the museum, show your raffle ticket stub at the NVM, and receive an additional 8 tokens for their arcade FREE!

The NVM is only 4 miles from TPF so you don’t want to miss it!

Join us Friday, March 24th at 8pm at the Texas Pinball Festival for a special showing of this new exciting film followed by commentary and Q&A by the man himself, Roger Sharpe. Seating is limited and a TPF show entry is required. See Roger Sharpe’s TPF guest announcement here.

Join Todd Tuckey and Imoto Harney for a screening of the short film “Skill Shot, Baby! Pinball Epiphany” on Friday, March 24^th at 7pm. The short features a scene from the feature film script in which Jake, a newcomer to the game of pinball, meets Bart, a seasoned veteran operator for the first time. Following the screening, there will be a Q&A session with Todd and Imoto. Visit skillshotbaby.com for more information on the film.

Everyone’s favorite pinball engineer and tech is coming back to Texas. Butch has worked in pinball for some time and has been involved in the making of several games including Wizard of Oz, Hobbit, Pirates of the Caribbean and many others.

Butch is working with Chicago Gaming Company and will be hanging out in the CGC booth all weekend, He may even join in on one of the seminars.

A graduate of the Columbus College of Art & Design, Michael has been working professionally as an illustrator for close to 20 years running his own freelance illustration company: Sunburn Designs. Michael is also the artist behind Stern’s RUSH pinball machine.

This will be his first Texas Pinball Festival!

Michael will be at TPF all weekend and you’ll likely find him hanging out with John Borg.

Founder and CEO of Jersey Jack Pinball, Jack returns to TPF2023 joining Steve Ritchie and Eric Meunier to show off Jersey Jack’s line of pinball machine.

Jack will be visiting with fans and guests all weekend and I bet you can catch him at the Jersey Jack Seminar Friday night.

Legendary pinball designer Dennis Nordman will be joining us at TPF2023. Dennis has been working on his upcoming title with American Pinball and we can’t wait to see (and play) it!

Dennis is best known for pinball favorites such as Elvira and the Party Monsters, Scared Stiff, Dr. Dude, Pirates of the Caribbean, Whoa Nelly! Big Juicy Melons, Zombie League All Stars, and most recently, Elvira’s House of Horrors, and so many more!

Dennis will be visiting with fans and guests all weekend and we bet you’ll catch him at the American Pinball seminar!

Don’t miss out on the Texas Pinball Festival Swap Meet on Saturday morning, March 25th, 2023. The DFW Pinball & Arcade Club does such an awesome job every year!

The DFW Pinball & Arcade Club is a gathering of pinball and video game enthusiasts. Anyone interested in gaming or learning more about pinball machines and/or video games is welcome.

As always, admission to the Swap Meet is free of charge. Make some cash (and room in the garage) and bring out those project games and parts. If you are interested in a space at the Swap Meet, contact the DFW Pinball & Arcade Club via Facebook.

Roger Sharpe’s demonstration of the game as skill-based overturned New York City’s thirty-four-year ban on pinball machines in 1976. His story, now a film, “PINBALL: The Man Who Saved The Game” is set to open in theaters on March 17th. 

Roger is also the former Director of Marketing and Licensing at Williams Bally/Midway, a pinball historian, a player, and former pinball designer at Stern, Williams, and Game Plan. 

Roger will host a presentation and Q&A about the film and will be visiting with fans and guests all weekend.

Pinball designer John Borg will be returning to the 2023 Texas Pinball Festival joining a growing list of other designers and guests. 

John is well known in the industry for popular titles such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Munsters, Aerosmith, Metallica, TRON, Iron Man, X-Men, Tales from the Crypt, Guardians of the Galaxy. He’s topping that incredible list with his latest title: RUSH! 

John will be visiting with TPF guests over the weekend and will be happy to sign that translite or flyer while he’s there.

Mike Vinikour is an Associate Game Developer at Stern Pinball. Mike has worked on almost every Stern game released in the past several years including RUSH and James Bond 007. 

Other titles Mike worked on are Batman, Iron Maiden, KISS, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Beatles, and many more. Mike also has an impressive resume with some of your favorite arcade games including Mortal Kombat. 

You can usually find Mike hanging around in the Marco / FUN! booth answering questions, teaching the rules to games, and giving away Stern swag.

The final voting for the TWIPYs will start on January 1, 2023 and end at midnight on January 16, 2023 at twipys.com. We are very excited to have Imoto Arcade and Todd Tuckey as hosts for the live awards ceremony at the Texas Pinball Festival on March 25th 2023. The ceremony will be live streamed on the TWIP YouTube Channel. 

Imoto travels the world exploring gaming culture focusing on the resurgence of arcades and pinball. Her goal is to help these public and social gaming experiences thrive by encouraging everyone to get out of their houses and visit local arcades and gaming events. Imoto works with Marco Pinball and MarcoTV to promote pinball events, expos and arcade locations. She hopes to inspire more people to embrace gaming culture and to help them find their passions in the gaming world. 

Todd is the owner and President of TNT Amusements Inc. He also runs the company’s official YouTube channel with over 42,000 subscribers. Having been in the coin-op business for over 40 years, Todd knows everybody in the industry and has hundreds of friends and fans.

With production of Weird Al’s Museum of Natural Hilarity in full swing, Gerry Stellenberg and the Multimorphic crew are returning in 2023 to show off their full catalog of games and demonstrate all of the features that set the P3 apart from other machines.

They say it’s “One Machine, Many Games”, but they’re bringing 10 of them, each set up with a unique gaming experience. Gerry and some of the game designers will also be presenting a seminar on the latest developments at Multimorphic.

Yes, you read that correctly!

On the 20th Anniversary of it’s release, the Texas Pinball Festival will be giving away a NEW, The Simpsons Pinball Party which is being generously donated by fellow pinball collectors Ross and Lisa Viguet. This incredible pinball time capsule is still sealed in the box.

Our plan is to have an unboxing and set-up on Thursday evening, March 23th. The game will be set-up with new leg/cabinet protectors installed, and thoroughly gone through by Pinball-ERS including MPU board inspection (repair or replacement if needed), new Titan rubbers and LEDs courtesy of Titan Pinball, and a new ColorDMD installed! More details to come.

Raffle tickets are available for sale only at the show. 

For 2023, we will be donating/splitting the proceeds of the TPF Raffle between Texas based children’s charity Kidd’s Kids and the National Videogame Museum. Locals know and love this venue. If you don’t, we encourage you to visit NVM, just a short ride from the show, during TPF weekend.

Click here to read more about the Texas Pinball Raffle, the National Videogame Museum, Kidd’s Kids, and see the gallery of winners.

Famed pinball designer and good friend Mark Ritchie is coming back to Texas! We love having Mark. He is truly a fan favorite and has become a TPF staple. 

Mark has designed some the most loved and collectible pinball machines in the hobby, including Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure, Fish Tales, Diner, Big Guns, Firepower II, Police Force, Sorcerer and Kingpin just to name a few. 

Mark will be visiting with TPF guests and signing autographs so bring your favorite Mark Ritchie design translite for a signature!

Game designer of Jersey Jack Pinball’s smash hits “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Guns N’ Roses”, and part of the team on every other JJP game, Eric has certainly made a name for himself in the pinball world. We can’t wait to see what he’s working on next. Eric will be joining us all weekend visiting with guests and fans.

Cary is a pinball content creator on Youtube. His channel covers a variety of topics in the hobby. His entertaining videos include topics such as: Discussing current events, performing restorations, comedic skits, educational “How To’s”, product installs, reviews, and more. 

Cary will be at TPF2023 all weekend and participating in the unboxing of our NIB Simpsons Pinball Party raffle game. Be sure to find him and say hello. Check out his YouTube channel!

We are happy to announce that fellow pinball aficionados and friends Jonathan Joosten of Pinball Magazine and Martin Ayub of Pinball News will be back at TPF2023 for another round of their fun game show: “So You Think You Know Pinball?” in the Cypress Bar in the Embassy (day/time TBD). 

This fun and entertaining event will feature pinball trivia, prizes, and lots of laughs and good times! Don’t miss it!

In 2016, Franchi arrived on the pinball scene with the illustrious Ka-Pow/Stern produced Batman ’66 games. His colorful, exciting designs and realism quickly earned him a spot in the hearts of pinball fans worldwide. His follow-ups; Guardians of the Galaxy, The Munsters and The Beatles were also fan favorites, with The Munsters earning him his first TWIPY for best art.

Franchi has also been known to grab a mic and saddle up with his podcast partner Christian Line (Dr. Pin) and Jeff Parsons for the slickly produced Super Awesome Pinball Show. If you wonder where he’s been, he’s busy working on 5 new titles, to be released over the next couple years, as well as a few other secret projects you’ll soon see. Christopher will be at TPF2023 all weekend selling some of his amazing art and visiting with guests and fans.

Scott Danesi has certainly made a name for himself with his break out hit “Total Nuclear Annihilation” and his second title “Rick and Morty” by Spooky Pinball.

Most recently, Scott partnered with Multimorphic by creating sound packages for multiple P3 games including Weird Al’s Museum of Natural Hilarity, ROCs, and more. Scott will be joining us all weekend visiting with guests and fans.  

If you’ve never met Scott, make sure you do. He’s a pretty cool dude.

TPF2023 in 3D Swag NOW AVAILABLE: New shirts and hoodies featuring artwork by the very talented Brad Albright (each 2023 shirt will include a pair of 3D glasses). A limited collection of previous Texas Pinball Festival show merchandise is also available.

EXHIBITORS: TPF needs you! YOU are the most important part of the show! Game registration is also open! Bring a game and get in FREE along with all the other exhibitor perks! Sign up now!

VENDORS: See our vendor page for information on being a TPF2023 vendor and get all the details. Space is limited. If you were a TPF2022 Vendor, we will be contacting you soon!

On your mark….

Here is the TPF2023 pre-registration opening schedule for Saturday, October 15th, 2022 at https://texaspinball.com/tpf/store/.

10:00am CDT – TPF Wizards* Tournament Entry sales begin 
10:30am CDT – TPF Women’s* Tournament Entry sales begin
11:00am CDT – TPF Classics Tournament Entry sales begin
11:00am CDT – Tournament Waitlists open (as applicable)
11:00am CDT – TPF Preregistration for discounted weekend passes, Exhibitor sign up, and TPF merchandise begins

* Wizards and Women’s Tournament Entry sales will be exclusive for their specific tournament for their specific time. No other item will be available for sale during those time slots

READ THIS: 

• A Wizards Tournament ticket INCLUDES a TPF2023 weekend pass. You may only buy one tournament entry at a time. 
• You cannot buy multiple entries of the same type in a single transaction. 
•  Women’s and Classics Tournament tickets DO NOT INCLUDE a TPF2023 weekend pass. All tournament players are required to have a TPF2023 weekend pass (or day pass for each day playing). If you don’t get a Wizards entry that includes a pass, be sure to get your Weekend Pass or register as an Exhibitor after the 11am CDT start time.
• If you buy a Wizard’s Tournament ticket and also have a weekend pass by another means (ie: you are an Exhibitor or Vendor or you are Steve Ritchie), bring a friend so they can watch you dominate! 

Instructions for a Smooth Transaction: 

1. Select the desired tournament entry item from the TPF store.
2. Enter the required fields at a minimum:
   – First Name
   – Last Name
   – State (drop down selection)
   – Country (drop down selection)
   – IFPA Player # (Use 00000 if you don’t have one)
   – Manually update the Quantity to “1” even if it shows “1” by default
3. Click Add to Bag.
4. Copy/paste any applicable coupon code you might have into the coupon code field and click Apply.
5. Enter your email address.
6. Click “I agree with Terms and Conditions”.
7. Click Checkout.
8. Follow prompts to make payment.

PRO TIPS: 

• Once you place your tournament entry in your shopping cart, IMMEDIATELY check out and finish your payment. A tournament entry in your shopping cart is not yours until you successfully make the payment. We highly recommend not trying to add other items to your shopping cart if you are purchasing a Wizards or Women’s tournament ticket.
• For best performance, the preferred browser for our store is Chrome.
• Don’t forget to manually update the quantity field to 1 before clicking “Add to Bag.” Yes, it may already default to 1, but you must update it anyway. It’s a bug… we’ve reported it, but we can’t be sure they’ll fix it in time… so we’re telling you (everybody) now. It’s an issue that affects everyone equally, and we’re doing our utmost to make sure everyone is aware of it and knows how to handle it.

Take a minute and review the TPF Tournament Pages: https://texaspinball.com/tpf/tournaments/. 

Greetings TPF Army!

We are still very much in summer vacation mode, but we wanted to give you a little preview of the TPF2023 theme and also let you know it’s time to GET A ROOM!

The Embassy and surrounding hotels are ready to take your reservations for TPF2023. We really wish the Embassy could accommodate all or guests, but turns out… we’re TOO BIG! So, if you don’t get a room at the Embassy, you’ll find great options at the other hotels with whom we hold contracts (most within walking distance).

We are super excited to announce our friend and very talented artist Brad Albright (he’s also a repeat TPF vendor … check him out online) is putting together some awesome stuff for TPF2023. If you already have a pair of 3D glasses, keep them close and get ready for what’s still to come! You’re definitely going to want to wear your 3D glasses at the show. Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty available.

Isn’t that awesome?! Come on now… that’s pretty awesome. And it’s NOT the t-shirt art. Sure, it may be on the t-shirt somewhere, but there’s gonna be more! TPF2023 is gonna rock out in 3D!

Finally, before you send us an email to ask – TPF2023 weekend passes, official show merchandise, Exhibitor and Guest registration, tournament entries and new Vendor sign up will all start in October as usual.

Enjoy the rest of the summer… and keep an eye out for updates!